Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Flintlock squirrel gun

I don’t know why as I have never owned or shot a flintlock but for some reason I want one for a squirrel gun. I was thinking .32 or .36 caliber but I could go .40 and it would be legal for deer in Florida. I will be carrying a .50 caliber Ruger Old Army with me so it should take care of deer so maybe the smaller calibers would be better. I don’t need a handmade $2000 plus gun but I don’t want some mass produced ugly gun either. What are some good ones to look for? I wouldn’t mind building one myself but it has been over 30 years since I built a Lyman Great Plains rifle

I put together a Kibler Southern Mountain rifle in .32 caliber for my squirrel rifle. The kit is up there price wise but all components are excellent quality and it is so precisely made that only a relatively small amount of fitting was necessary (drilling tapping was also minimal). If you have average mechanical skills you’ll be fine. Nice looking rifle and very accurate - have taken a few squirrels with it when I’ve take it out but typically grab one of my .22s first and don’t kill many squirrels any more - FWIW.

PennDog

Get what you want by all means, but you will never regret a .40. Still no recoil, but they will carry out there to ranges that will make you shake your head, "how did I do that?". Why? I don't think anyone really knows, but as weight goes up, small imperfections, parting line or sprue? have less effect on the spinning ball maybe? As weight and mass of the roundball go up, environmental factors affect flight less? From my own experiments, I will say that as most roundball rifles will shoot best around 1300 to 1500 fps....the .40's and .45's can be stoked to the gills pushing 1800 to 1900 fps with very little accuracy loss.

i have a .28 and a .32. they are both a joy to shoot. and so economical that it is sinful.
bought a .315 6 hole mold and in one session cast a years supply. i don't shoot squirrels but grouse just fall over dead when they see that puff of smoke.

I got into muzzleloading when I was 12. I am now an old man and I build flintlocks to earn my living. I have built many many squirrel rifles but for over 1/2 a century I never owned one for my self. So I decided to make on for ME a few years ago.

I have not finished it yet, but it's close now. I used a 28 cal barrel and I fire .277" balls in it. I use 15 grains of powder. I zeroed it at 20 yards. For the cheek piece inlay I cut out a jack rabbit instead of a squirrel because we have no squirrels where I live, and the rifle is for me and not for sale (yet). Sometime before Christmas I hope to do the carving and finish work. It's a super light and slim rifle and a delight to carry and hold.

I started hunting when I was about 7 years old. I have hunted game from bunnies to elephant, in 5 countries and in 16 of the states here in the USA, and yet one animal I have always wanted to hunt and never have lived anywhere that had tree squirrels and when I was working in the states that have lots of them, the jobs always took 100% of my time so I have never shot a single tree squirrel in my life. Yet I wanted a rifle for the purpose. I am now trying to retire (and I hope to do so when I am 70) and at that point I may be able to hunt some squirrels, but at the cost of gas I am doubtful I will be able to do that even after I work off the back log that I have now.
So I made my squirrel rifle so I can finally have one, but it's a bit of a "rabbit rifle". We do have cotton tails and jack rabbits here.

I use a custom .40 caliber Lancaster flintlock for squirrel, other game smaller than deer, and target shooting. 40 is larger than needed for squirrel but it shoots fast and flat. Makes head shots easy.

Looked at Jim Kibbler’s website and am impressed with his kits

I have a .40 cal. Bedford county Penn style rifle for years. Shot several deer, hogs, and a few turkeys with it. I sold it about 20 years ago. Several years back I found an old Douglas 40 cal 15/16" AF bbl in my shop I forgot I had. Built me a little Jäger style rifle with it. Again I would not be afeared to deer hunt here with it.

I like the .40 round ball.

If you go that way I don’t think you’ll be disappointed - he really should call them something other than “kits” because they are as close to a custom muzzleloader as you can get without going all custom - IMO.

PennDog

If you can find one, the Pedersoli rifles are good and reasonably priced. Anything from overseas is tough to get. I waited four months IIRC for a underhammer pistol last year.

Try Taylor's & Co, or the Italian Firearms Group. Sources for traditional guns are few and far between these days. Track of the Wolf has guns off and on as well.

If you want to build, check out the Jim Kibler southern mountain rifle kits!

I have a Pedersoli flintlock .36 I have been thinking about parting with.
Bought it for son-in-law but he just didn't get in to it.

A single .45 flinter is all I have at present. I’d not shoot squill with it if I was hungry. Pretty sure cleaning obliterated squill is tedious.

A tip for those new or planning on a flinter. They can be quite accurate, but you will need some practice before achieving that goal. The lock time is slow....learn to stay on target and follow through after the trigger breaks.

Last point. Round balls are more lethal than conicals at modest velocity. I doubt most here in the ‘Fire could carry all the critters I’ve whacked with BB Caps.

I made a mistake and didn’t realize Florida changed the minimum caliber for deer with a muzzleloader to .30 caliber

Another vote for Kibler, but the 40 mite be a bit much for squirrel if you plan to make use of them after the shot.

Well I guess I will have to wait a little while after buying another Shiloh Sharps

🤣🤣🤣. Good for you!

Not a flintlock, but I always wanted one of those neat little TC Cherokee models in 32 or 36 caliber.
Not many squirrels in my area, but it would be fun for rabbits and varmints. And small piglets just the right size for the spit. 🤠